Dracula

French actor Louis Jourdan has died at his home in Beverly Hills. The 93 year old, who starred in films like Gigi and Octopussy, passed away on Saturday (14Feb15).
Born in Marseilles, France, Jourdan landed his first Hollywood movie in Alfred Hitchcock's The Paradine Case in 1947, but he became a big star following the success of 1958's Gigi, which picked up nine Oscars, including Best Picture.
He later portrayed the title character in BBC's 1977 production of Count Dracula, and he was the bad guy, Anton Arcane, in Swamp Thing. He also starred opposite Roger Moore in 1978 Bond movie Octopussy.
Among his accolades, Jourdan has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and received France's top civilian award, the Legion of Honour, in 2010.
His private life was tinged with tragedy - his son, Louis Henry Jourdan, died from a drug overdose in 1981.

Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers is reportedly set to walk down the aisle with his girlfriend of less than a year. The Dracula star has been dating actress/producer Mara Lane since early 2014 and they are now preparing to tie the knot, according to Eonline.com.
She recently debuted what appeared to be an engagement ring at the 25th Annual KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas at The Forum in Los Angeles.
If the news is true, it will be the first wedding for Meyers, who dated Reena Hammer, the daughter of make-up artist Ruby Hammer, from 2004 to 2012.
Representatives for Meyers, 37, had yet to respond to requests for a comment as WENN went to press.

Irish actress Victoria Smurfit has been cast as 101 Dalmatians villainess Cruella de Vil in U.S. TV fairytale drama Once Upon A Time. The Dracula star posted the news on Twitter.com early on Wednesday (05Nov14), but quickly deleted the tweet.
It read: "Super excited about playing Cruella for such an iconic show as @OnceABC."
The popular TV show imagines a lost U.S. town inhabited by characters from classic and modern fairytales and Disney films.
Glenn Close brought dog-stealing Cruella de Vil to life for a 1996 Disney film and its sequel four years later.

Halloween came early for Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban last week (ends26Oct14) when they celebrated the spookiest night of the year with a trick-or-treat party for 200 friends. The Australian actress admits she has really "embraced" the Halloween spirit since becoming a mum, and as well as hitting the streets to gather candy on Friday night (31Oct14), she opened her Tennessee home for a spook-tacular a few days early.
She says, "We already had a massive Halloween party... We sort of like to be the first cab off the ranks, so we started last week.
"We start (the party) at five and go 'til about 10, 10.30 and we do games. I'm into Halloween because it's theatrical. This year I was a witch. He (Urban) said he was Dracula... but he didn't look so Dracula-ish. He was tail and teeth and everything.
"We scared all the children. I forget when I have all the face paint on and I'm like, 'Hi...' and they (kids) sort of look aghast."
Kidman insists she has become an expert at disguise and she can hit the streets on Halloween and not get recognised, but her daughters still haven't decided exactly who they are going to be for trick-or-treating on Friday, so the actress has doubled up on costumes so they can make a last-minute choice.
She explains, "We have a Maleficent (costume) and we have an Elsa (costume from Frozen)... and then we have a little light-up witch costume and we also have one of flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz, which is my favourite."

Movie star Luke Evans realised he had taken relaxed toilet trips for granted on the set of Dracula Untold - because it would take him 20 minutes to get his armour off so he could pee. The Welsh actor admits he loved his elaborate costume at first, because it "turned heads" on set - but he had to moderate his liquid intake as a quick trip to the bathroom was, in fact, a huge drama.
The Three Musketeers star explains, "It's hard to move in the armour and fight in the armour, and I was unable to sit down in that armour. So, whenever I was in the armour, I would spend 12 hours standing or leaning.
"I couldn't pee. It would take 20 minutes to get the armour off so I could pee. There were very scary moments where I didn't get to the toilet quick enough! It looked good but you suffer for your art."

Welsh actor Luke Evans has issued a warning to stalkers and thieves who attempt to break-in to his home - he has an impressive sword collection and he knows how to use each one. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug star has made it a point to keep the weapons his characters use in films like Dracula Untold and The Three Musketeers as souvenirs, and they're mounted on his wall.
And he's particularly proud of his keepsake from the new Dracula film, explaining, "The sword I have in the movie is the most beautiful weapon I've ever used in a movie. The handle is a bronze dragon standing on his hind feet and his tail wraps around the hilt of the sword and his eyes are rubies.
"It was quite heavy and quite difficult to work with; my wrists increased! I had to change my watch from just my wrists getting bigger from fighting, putting pressure on the wrists, which is a very weird thing.
"It (sword) was given to me on my final day and it was all inscribed by the Universal family. I feel very lucky to have it, but God help any burglar that tries to enter my house, that's for sure!"

Pop stars One Direction are nursing bruised egos after their new concert movie flopped at the U.K. box office. One Direction: Where We Are, filmed at the group's show in Milan, Italy earlier this year (14), was released in British cinemas for one weekend only last weekend (10-12Oct14).
It was hoped the film would mirror the success of the band's first concert movie, One Direction: This Is Us, which grossed $29 million (£18 million) in 2013 and became the fourth biggest concert film ever, but the new release was a major disappointment.
It took just $1.6 million (£1 million) and barely scraped into the top five, landing in fourth place.
Ben Affleck's Gone Girl took the top spot for the second week running, raking in $4.9 million (£3.1 million), and new sci-fi hit The Maze Runner landed in second with $3.3 million (£2 million).
Annabelle, about a possessed doll, placed third with $3.1 million (£1.9 million), and the top five was rounded out by Dracula Untold, with takings of $1.4 million (£850,000).

Ben Affleck's Gone Girl has taken a bite out of Dracula Untold's North American box office earnings after topping the chart for a second consecutive week. The disappearance thriller, based on the best-selling book by Gillian Flynn, debuted at number one last week (ends05Oct14) and it has grossed another $26.8 million (£16.75 million) to retain the top spot, fending off competition from Dracula Untold, which opens at two with $23.4 million (£14.6 million).
Disney's Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, starring Affleck's wife Jennifer Garner, is new at three with $19.1 million (£11.9 million), while Robert Downey, Jr.'s legal drama The Judge enters at five, behind horror movie Annabelle.

Thriller Gone Girl is proving to be a runaway success by topping the box office charts on both sides of the Atlantic. The film, starring Ben Affleck as a writer whose wife goes missing, shook off all its rivals on its opening weekend (03-05Oct14) in the U.S. and now it has repeated the feat in the U.K.
Gone Girl raked in ticket sales of $6.5 million (£4.1 million) in Britain, easily outselling its rival new release Dracula Untold, which took second place with $2.7 million (£1.7 million).
Denzel Washington's thriller The Equalizer fell one place to third, with $1.9 million (£1.2 million), and The Boxtrolls also dropped one position to fourth, with $1.6 million (£983,015).
What We Did On Our Holiday rounded out the top five, taking $1.1 million (£728,228).

"I've never done a vampire quite like this: I'm a thousand years old, I've been down in a cave forever. Not a pretty sight!" Actor Charles Dance on playing an ancient bloodsucker in new movie Dracula Untold.

Synopsis

Documentary that examines Bram Stoker's novel, "Dracula." An Irish writer, Bram Stoker claimed that the idea for "Dracula" came to him in a nightmare but literary scholars believe the roots for his work can be found in Eastern European folklore. James Hart, screewriter for the feature film "Bram Stoker's Dracula," offers reasons for the novels popularity and Stoker's biographer, Barbara Belford, gives insight into the man who composed it.